LSU Is the Victim This Time

Mississippi Coach Tommy Tuberville has been talking about winning since he took over a troubled Mississippi football program on NCAA probation three years ago.

He had plenty to talk about on Saturday with Mississippi’s 36-21 upset of No. 8 Louisiana State at Baton Rouge, La.

“It is the biggest win since I have been here,” Tuberville said. “We believed in each other, and we went out and took a few chances and they worked.”

John Avery ran for two touchdowns and Stewart Patridge passed for two as Mississippi posted its first victory against a ranked team since 1995.

LSU, 5-2 overall and 3-2 in the Southeastern Conference, was noticeably flat after the emotional victory over top-ranked Florida and Ole Miss (4-2, 2-2) took advantage. The Rebels shut out LSU in the second half and outgained the Tigers, 488 yards to 391.

“I felt early in the week that we were not emotionally up for this game,” said LSU cornerback Cedric Donaldson.

Patridge teamed with Grant Heard on a 60-yard touchdown pass play with 10:29 left in the fourth quarter to put the Rebels ahead, 33-21.

Working against the top scoring defense and pass-efficiency defense in the SEC, Patridge completed 27 of 43 passes for 346 yards and two touchdowns.

Kevin Faulk rushed for 172 yards and two touchdowns in 25 carries for LSU.

Tyler was 14 for 23 for 110 yards with one interception and was sacked six times.

“They did to us what we did to Florida,” LSU Coach Gerry DiNardo said.

No. 9 Tennessee 38, Alabama 21--Peyton Manning threw for 304 yards and three touchdowns to lead the Volunteers (5-1, 3-1) over the Crimson Tide (3-3, 1-3) at Birmingham, Ala.

The 80th meeting between the teams produced Tennessee’s third straight victory in the series and its second consecutive blowout at Legion Field.

As was the case in a 41-14 win in 1995, Tennessee put Alabama away early.

During a 15-minute span beginning in the first quarter, Tennessee ran 36 plays and scored three touchdowns, compared to just seven plays, no first downs and an interception for the Crimson Tide.

When that stretch was over, Tennessee led, 21-6, and Alabama looked every bit as young and thin as it had in earlier losses to Arkansas and Kentucky.

Kentucky 49, Northeast Louisiana 14--Tim Couch passed for a school-record 428 yards and six touchdowns, including three to Lance Mickelsen, as the Wildcats (4-3) rolled to a nonconference victory at Lexington, Ky.

Couch also set a school record with 12 consecutive completions. During that span he had touchdown strikes of 38 yards to Craig Yeast and 12 to Jimmy Robinson in the first quarter. He finished 34 for 43 with one interception and also ran one yard for a touchdown.

Couch, who has passed for more than 300 yards in six games, broke his yardage mark of 398 set in the season opener against Louisville.

Northeast Louisiana (2-6) lost its fourth game to an SEC team.

No. 19 Georgia 34, Vanderbilt 13--Mike Bobo threw for 267 yards and two touchdowns as the Bulldogs (5-1, 3-1) beat the Commordores (3-4, 0-4) at Nashville.

Georgia had 396 yards, including touchdown pass plays of 27 and 25 yards from Bobo to Michael Greer. The Commodores came into the game giving up 242 yards a game.

South Carolina 39, Arkansas 13--Anthony Wright kept alive a key 99-yard drive with three third-down conversions and finished it with a 45-yard touchdown pass to Boo Williams as the Gamecocks (4-3, 2-3) beat the Razorbacks (3-3, 1-2) at Little Rock, Ark.